Akhilesh K. Tyagi

Professor

Working in the area of Plant Genomics and Biotechnology, Professor Tyagi led first successful Indian initiatives on genome-wide sequencing in rice, tomato and desi chickpea. This has heralded the era of high throughput genomics in India. Pioneering contributions were made to the area of neo- and sub-functionalization of regulatory gene families in plants during evolution. A transcriptome atlas of water-deficit response and grain development in rice has been generated. Novel genes/alleles were characterized with a view to gain and protect yield. Over-all, >250 publications of international repute have been generated with GS H-index of 60 and 15000 citations. This research is largely an outcome of investigations of national/international collaborators and >120 Post-Doctoral, Doctoral, Master, Fellow and Trainee researchers, carried out under the auspices of several projects executed in his leadership. He has delivered over 300 invited lectures and chaired over 50 sessions in national (~50 cities) and international (~15 countries) meetings. In addition, he is serving on Editorial Boards of Transgenic Research, Molecular Genetics & Genomics, Rice, and others.

At the University of Delhi, Professor Tyagi has served as Head, Department of Plant Molecular Biology, Chairman, Board of Interdisciplinary and Applied Sciences and Director, Interdisciplinary Centre for Plant Genomics. Professor Tyagi has also provided leadership to the National Institute of Plant Genome Research as Director and to National Agri-food Biotechnology Institute as Executive Director (A/c). In his leadership as President, the National Academy of Sciences, India and its Chapters reached about 20000 people, including children, women and those from rural areas, under its science and society program during 2015-16. He served as Chairman of DBT-UGC Task Force on Human Resource Development and Program Advisory Committee on Plant Sciences, DST, Government of India, and on Governing Boards of more than ten institutions. He is serving as Chairman, DBT Task Force on Star College Scheme and President, Indian Society of Plant Physiology. He has been given JC Bose National Fellowship Award, National Bioscience Award, NASI-Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee Award in Biological Sciences, GM Modi Award for Innovative Science & Technology, Bhasin Award for Science and Technology, Birbal Sahni Medal of IBS, BP Pal Memorial Award of ISCA, and FC Steward Lecture Award of PTCA(I), among others. He is Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, the Indian National Science Academy, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and The World Academy of Sciences.

The International Rice Genome Sequencing Project* 2005. The map-based sequence of the rice genome. Nature 436: 793-800. (*Co-authored as Coordinator of the Indian Initiative for Rice Genome Sequencing).